“But the jungle is probably safer than the city. I don’t feel threatened in the jungle. If you respect it and respect the animals living in it, you will not have a problem.

“Danger is always present, but when you know it is there, you can easily face it. Spiders don’t crawl on your back and you don’t walk on snakes.

“There are rules to respect if you want to be safe and adapt to life in the wild. You have to be able to read into nature, be able to foresee a storm, always be vigilant. That’s all.”

Dr Goossens established the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) in Sabah six years ago, and spends most of his time in the Bornean jungle on projects to protect endangered species.

He has hit the headlines for his crocodile project, as well warning on the future of the iconic big-nosed proboscis monkey and attempting to stave off extinction of the slow loris due to an aggressive illegal pet trade.

Next page: Year-long stay

But despite his year-long stay in one of the remotest parts of the world, he said: “Life in the jungle is great – it is not lonely because the field centre is busy, there are staff. There are eight locals and their children, students from different countries, researchers, visitors. But it is a very quiet place, in the middle of the forest.

“You go to bed with the sounds of the jungle and wake up with the sounds of the jungle.

“The DGFC is a little paradise on Earth.

“I don’t have much spare time. When I’m not at the field centre, I’m in Kota Kinabalu, with my family – my wife from Mexico and my son who is 14 months old.”

He had honed his trade by studying the mating rituals of the Sumatran orangutan before moving to Cardiff in 1999, where he studied conservation genetics, which he studied in orangutans, Bornean elephants, giant and red pandas in China, chimpanzees and forest elephants in central Africa and black rhinos in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

He said: “Since I was a kid I’ve been interested in wildlife. I remember my first visit to Antwerp Zoo [in Belgium] with my dad, when I was four years old.

“I was fascinated by lions, polar bears and elephants. I wanted to be ‘Daktari’ – [Swahili for doctor], an American children’s drama series that aired in Europe in the beginning of the 1970s.

“The show followed the work of a wildlife veterinarian and his staff in Africa who frequently protected animals from poachers and local officials. Since then, I always wanted to work with wildlife, and especially large mammals.”

Despite living part of his life in the jungle, Dr Goossens said that the Field Centre was comfortable, albeit fitted with only cold shower – but has internet.

He said: “To adapt to life in the jungle, it is important to know yourself well, be aware of your abilities, and don’t do anything stupid, don’t challenge wildlife and nature. Be humble.

“I believe this is the most important. Do not play Indiana Jones or Crocodile Dundee. Respect nature and nature will respect you.”

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